Cardan’s Well

Cardan’s Well 1790s OSA,652 [where Jerome Cardan is said to have cured Archbishop Hamilton of ‘a dropsy’, though the minister states that ‘it is of no repute at present’]Cardan’s Well 1855 OS 6 inch 1st edn

en Cardan + Sc wall or SSE well

The story surrounding this well claims that the extraordinary Jerome Cardan (1501–1576), mathematician, physician, cryptographer, astrologer and gambler, cured Archbishop Hamilton of his illness by – among other things – making him walk daily to the well to drink the water.[317]

The precise location of the well is in doubt: in the 1960s a stone was erected at NO3121 1431 inscribed ‘Site of Cardan’s Well 1552’, but earlier reports appear to place it at NO3124 1435 (NMRS NO31SW 4). The OS Name Book, which has a lengthy description of the well and its tradition, states: ‘The original well is long since covered over and the field ploughed. The place marked on the trace [later appearing on the OS 6 inch 1st edn map at NO312143, where the stone was erected] is where the first appearance of the water is seen issuing from the well. It is only known to the inhabitants by the name of Carsos[318] Well’ (53. 22).

For other wells in Scotland which possibly contain Cardan’s name, see Caurd Well KWY (PNF 2).